little mccall || stiles stilinski

Bridges Burn, I Never Learn

English class is dragging today. Actually, English drags everyday. I think I'd enjoy it a lot more if Mrs. Blake didn't hate me.

Tessa always says that I'm probably making it up in my head, but I swear it's true. She's never said anything to my face, but she makes all of these weird comments and throws me this dirty glances. On top of that, she is constantly getting mad at me for talking, but I've never seen her yell at Stiles or Scott, and they talk all of the time. Mrs. Blake moved me across the room from them, but I can still hear them whispering for the whole class period.

Today we've spent the whole day talking about idioms, which seems pointless to me. I don't really need a reminder that I can't see the whole board, thanks.

Speaking of which,  I'm still waiting for Tessa to show me the whole board after she dropped the bomb the other night. I know she said that she still needed proof, but I thought she meant tying up a few loose ends and showing me in the morning. She said she wasn't ready when I called her today, so I guess I was wrong.

After what seems like an eternity, the bell rings and every student starts rushing out of the classroom.

"Miss McCall," Ms Blake calls out, not looking up from her paper "Could you stay and talk for a minute?"

"Um," I don't want to, but I can. "Sure."

I stand by her desk and wait, awkwardly, for the students to leave. Stiles shoots me a confused look, but I just shrug because I have no idea what she wants either. His eyes stay on me as he makes his way through the door. It makes my stomach twist and turn.

After the last few stragglers leave the room Ms. Blake braces herself for this conversation, making me think I should, as well. I just don't know how.

"I'm going to keep this brief." She states, keeping a firm and serious face. "You're failing my class."

"No, I'm not," I scrunch my nose, confused. "I have an A." I looked at it today.

"You used to have an A," She explains "But there are quite a few assignments I haven't put on your grade that will bring you down to an F."

"How? I do all of my assignments."

"You've seem distracted as of late," She says, still not providing much emotion, but there's something in her eyes that makes me uneasy. "I think you've fallen behind without realizing."

Yes, I have been distracted, but not to that degree, right? I just don't know how I could not notice assignments being announced. She can't be right, but I know better than to talk back to my teachers. If she thinks I'm failing, an F will be put on my transcript.

"I'd hate to see all of your potential go to waste, so I'm going to help you out." She continues. "As you know, I'm putting on a concert to honor the school's losses."

I nod.

"I need some help backstage." She admits. "So if you're willing, I think helping could bring you back up to your previous A"

"Oh, totally!" I exclaim, feeling a huge weight lift off of my shoulder. "Thank you so, so much!"

"It's my pleasure." She smiles a little too much, which creeps me out, but I just am grateful that I won't have to explain to my mom why I'm failing my best subject.

                                   ***

"I think we should talk tonight." Tessa breaks the awkward silence that was putting a major damper on my lunch period.

"Oh?" My head whips up. She's going to talk to me? I'm finally going to understand what's happening? I think I'm ready. I'm a little scared, but the not-knowing is even worse. I don't think anyone really understands how much it sucks knowing something is off, but not knowing what. My brain feels so blurry all of the time. Something traumatic would happen, but before I could conceptualize what was going on, another horrible thing would happen. And I wanted to do something about it, so badly, but I couldn't even imagine where to start. Tonight, the picture will finally become clear, and things might change, but I won't feel so helpless. That notion, alone, makes all of the fear fade away.

"Wait," I remember with a groan. "I have to help Mrs Blake with the concert tonight. Are you willing to talk after?"

Her eyes widen, and her face pales like I just told her I was going to blow up the school.

"Bella," She squeaks. "I don't think that's a good idea." Her hands start trembling. Is it hypocritical for me to say she's being dramatic?

"I'm not looking forward to it either," I shake my head and let out a forced laugh. "But apparently I'm failing, so I don't really have a choice."

"English is you're subject!" She frowns "You can't be failing."

"Apparently, I can." I try to laugh off the tension.

"Did she tell you this?" She starts to panic "Did Mrs. Blake tell you you're failing?"

"She is the teacher," I'm starting to get confused. Out of all of the things we have to freak out about, why is she focusing on this?

"You can't go tonight." Tessa pleads.

"I can't fail, either." I argue "Why is this such a big deal?"

"I can't explain how," She looks me dead in the eyes "But she's bad news, okay?"

"Who? Ms.. Blake?" I question.

"Yes," She admits. "She's not who everyone thinks she is."

"Wait," I stand up from our lunch table, trying not to cause a scene, but it's hard when she acts like this. "Is this your theory? You think my English teacher is some sort of psycho killer?"

"That's part of it." She admits "And it's not a theory. I know what's going on."

"Then tell me!" I beg.

"Not yet," Tessa shakes her head "Just give me a few more hours, okay?"

"I can't deal with this right now." I start to walk away, but she grabs my hand before I can get too far.

"Please," She whispers as her eyes well up in tears, causing mine to do the same "Don't go tonight."

The sincereness in her expression alone is almost enough to make me listen to her, and stay home tonight. Key word being almost.

"I have to." I try to brush off her worried face as I leave her behind, but the image won't leave my mind. I just can't imagine what kind of damage petite, frail Ms. Blake could cause.

***

"Thank you so much for coming to help!" Ms. Blake exclaims as I walk backstage.

"Oh, no," I counter. "Thank you for giving me this opportunity to bring my grade up."

This isn't so bad. I'm not sure what Tessa was worried about. Maybe Ms. Blake is a little odd, but tonight is just a normal night. This is just a normal extra credit assignment.

Ms. Blake walks out on the stage and says a few words about the recital and the students we've lost before the orchestra starts playing their music.

She walks back out and hands me a white sheet of paper. "These are the stage directions. They'll just tell you when you need to open and close the curtains, which is basically just at the end of the recital."

"Sounds easy enough." I smile.

"I see you brought your laptop," She nods at my bag "You'll have lots of time to do homework."

"I was hoping I would." I comment.

"Okay, well—" She claps her hands softly "I need to take care of a few things. I'll be back before the concert ends."

Once she leaves, I plug my laptop in and get started on my math homework. I'm only one problem in when I get a notification telling me Tessa is requesting a video chat. I groan a little before debating whether or not I should answer it.

Is she still nervous? She's never been like this before. She usually the chill friend and I'm the one always having an anxiety attack. The roles being reversed makes me uncomfortable, but the nights almost over so I don't worry about it.

That being said, Tessa being this nervous is something you should pay attention to. If she's scared there has to be a good reason, right? A pit starts to grow in my stomach and I start to regret not listening to my best friend. I should've trusted her. After all she's done for me, It's what she deserves.

The dark, heavy feeling is enough for me to answer Tessa's call, even backstage during a memorial recital.